


the adventures of tali and victoria

by lux_et_astra



Series: NCIS [2]
Category: NCIS
Genre: COVID-19, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Minor Character Death, Multi, Single Parents, you can’t tell me ziva and tony weren’t there for jimmy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29437545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lux_et_astra/pseuds/lux_et_astra
Summary: sometimes tali forgets victoria’s ima is dead, but sometimes, like now, she remembers. it must be hard for uncle jimmy, she thinks, and for victoria. she’d been really sad when her ima was gone. she wonders if victoria’s ima will come back like hers did.
Relationships: Jimmy Palmer/Breena Slater, Ziva David/Anthony DiNozzo
Series: NCIS [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2154468
Comments: 3
Kudos: 21





	the adventures of tali and victoria

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by factoffictionwriter and tumbleweedpalmer on tumblr!

tali is sitting in one of those annoying little baby chairs they’ve set out in front of the table. she thinks it’s stupid. she’s seven years old. she’s not a baby. she hardly even fits into the chairs any more.

what’s really funny, though, is seeing her ima next to her, also trying to squish into the baby chair. she’s heard other adults describe her as “petite”, but she’s definitely not petite enough to fit. her legs poke upwards and she looks a little bit grouchy. 

“i’m sorry,” says the teacher behind the table. her name is mrs crews and she looks huggable. tali likes her instantly. “i was expecting…”

“i know,” ima says. “he’s working late. there was an emergency at work, he’ll be here as soon as he can.” she glances at the little girl to her left. “he really wanted to be here.”

“i know,” she chirps. she looks at the teacher. “mrs crews, this is my doda ziva and my cousin tali!”

tali smiles at victoria. the six-year old is only a year younger than her but much more hyper and excitable. she’s practically bouncing out of the chair (which, tali notices grumpily, she fits into perfectly.)

“i see,” mrs crews says. she looks at ima. “doda?”

“aunt,” ima says, “but i am not actually related.” her face softens. “my husband and i were living in paris, but we came back to the states to help jimmy, after…” she shrugs. “we did not think he should have to do it alone.”

mrs crews smiles softly. tali really likes her, she decides. “you must be very good friends.”

“yes,” ima says. “jimmy is like family. we are always willing to go the extra kilometre.”

mrs crews frowns in confusion, but before she can say anything, the door opens and uncle jimmy bursts in. he’s still wearing his fancy doctor clothes, and he’s panting like he’s been running.

“dr palmer,” says mrs crews. “it’s good to see you. please, sit down.”

“i am so sorry i’m late,” pants uncle jimmy. “there was an emergency, and i had to call in doctor mallard, and…” he sinks into one of the baby chairs and folds up like a deck chair. “thank you so much for being here, ziva.”

“of course,” ima says. 

“hi, daddy,” squeals victoria, and climbs on top of him, throwing her arms around his neck. “you came!”

“of course i came, honey,” says uncle jimmy. “i wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

“do you want to play doctors, tali?” asks victoria, bouncing up and down on her toes. tali, actually, is reading a book her teacher gave her, called le petit prince, but as much as she likes the book, she likes victoria more.

“okay,” she says. “i’ll be the patient.” she puts her book down and sits on the footrest. 

“lie down,” instructs victoria bossily.

“aren’t you supposed to ask me where it hurts?” tali asks, and lies down obediently.

“no, silly,” says victoria. “you can’t speak.”

tali is a little bit confused, but lies there silently. victoria has some odd ideas, maybe, but she’s sweet really.

victoria produces a plastic toy knife from the doctor’s bag and tali is a little scared. she knows it can’t really hurt her, but it looks very fancy. she does think, though, that victoria wouldn’t be a very good doctor. what if all she had was a cold? she doesn’t think knives get used to cure colds.

victoria trails the plastic knife over tali’s pink t-shirt in a sort of inside out triangle shape. then she produces another tool from the bag. tali thinks they look sort of like the tools daddy uses to cut the hedge outside their house in paris.

“what are you going to do with those?” tali asks, unable to contain her curiosity.

“cut your ribs open,” victoria says matter-of-factly. “sssh, tali. you can’t talk. you’re dead.”

actually, tali thinks, she’d probably make a _very_ good doctor. just not one for people who are alive.

tali’s sneaking downstairs for a glass of water when she hears her name. she freezes for a moment. she’d been sure nobody had heard her — she’d made extra careful not to step on the squeaky stairs! (it had taken her only three days of staying with uncle jimmy to learn how to not make any noise. daddy had ruffled her hair and called her his little ninja.)

“she was younger than victoria, when she came to me,” someone’s saying, and tali peeks around the doorframe to see her daddy sitting at the table with uncle jimmy. “she was only three. it was so hard, jimmy. knowing ziva was missing and i suddenly had this kid, and all she had was me…”

so she hasn’t been caught. phew. tali sits down on the bottom stair to listen to their conversation. her daddy doesn’t talk about the time before ima came home much. 

“how did you do it?” asks uncle jimmy, and he sounds really really sad. sometimes tali forgets victoria’s ima is dead, but sometimes, like now, she remembers. it must be hard for him, she thinks, and for victoria. she’d been really sad when her ima was gone. she wonders if victoria’s ima will come back like hers did.

“one day at a time,” daddy says. “some days were worse than others. the first year i had her, hanukkah came around, and she was just…” he sighs. “she expected her mom to be there to give her presents and say prayers. and i only realised a few days before that she was going to want to celebrate, so i had to buy her a present and a menorah and learn all these hebrew prayers. and i thought i did so great, but then i was tucking her into bed and she looked up at me with those big brown eyes and asked why her ima didn’t want to do hanukkah with her any more, and…” there’s a pause. he sounds sad too. tali wants to give him and uncle jimmy a big hug, but she’s not supposed to be awake. “i just started crying. i didn’t know what to tell her. i just tried so hard to be enough, and… that day, i wasn’t. and that’s going to happen, sometimes. there are going to be god-awful days.”

tali doesn’t think that first hanukkah with daddy was god-awful. she remembers the doll he’d given her and the bright pink sparkly menorah they’d lit. his hebrew hadn’t been very good, but she’d corrected him on some of them and they’d laughed. she still wishes her ima had been there, but she could tell her daddy was trying.

“but there are good days too, jimbo,” says daddy, and she imagines him ruffling uncle jimmy’s hair the way he does hers. “because that year, tim and delilah came over for christmas, and they bought her a dollshouse. and looking at the smile on her little face, jimmy, it makes all the bad days worth it.”

she hears a sniffle, like she sometimes makes when she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s been crying. “i don’t know how to do this without her, tony,” uncle jimmy says. “i don’t know how to do it alone.”

she sneaks another peak through the doorway, and her daddy is hugging uncle jimmy.

“it’s okay, jimmy,” he’s saying. “we’re here. you don’t have to.”

“look, daddy, i’m a fairy princess ballerina!” victoria yells, jumping up and down on the footrest. she’s wearing a pink tutu and a disney princess shirt and a pair of shimmery green wings on her back. a blue-jewelled tiara is perched wonkily on her blonde hair.

“yeah you are,” says uncle jimmy proudly. “you both look so wonderful.”

tali is wearing the same pink tutu, only her wings and crown are both also pink. they look, her ima would say, like two beans in a pod.

“come on, girls, take the tutus off before you rip them or get them dirty,” ima says. “you know you’re only supposed to check they fit.”

“tali’s so thrilled that victoria’s ballet teacher is letting her be a part of the show,” daddy says.

“oh, i think the teacher is thrilled to have tali,” says uncle jimmy. “she’s such a little prima ballerina. how long has she been having lessons?”

“ages and ages!” says tali happily. ima smiles at her proudly.

“i always wanted to be a ballerina,” she says. “this is better.”

“i’m th-rill-ed to do it with tali too,” says victoria, sounding out the word in concentration. “all the others think i’m so cool for having a big sister who’s really good!”

“they think we’re sisters,” explains tali matter-of-factly. “i keep telling them we don’t even look that much alike.”

“but it’s okay!” says victoria. “i love tali sooooooo much i don’t mind if people think she’s my sister! she’s awesome.”

“you’re awesome too!” says tali, and presses her finger to victoria’s nose.

“no fair! you booped me!” complains victoria. she lifts her own small palm to tali’s face and tali ducks away, hiding behind uncle jimmy.

“uncle jimmy, protect me!” she cries.

“what did i tell you?” whispers daddy sneakily. “you gotta call him uncle gremlin, like i said.”

“i don’t think he’d like that,” tali says, making a face.

“uncle oyster always works,” offers ima, smiling.

“or uncle jimmy is just fine,” says uncle jimmy, but he’s laughing. “you can call me anything you like, tali. i don’t mind.”

she’s peering at the big hall from behind the curtains. there’s her ima, and her daddy, and her granddad senior! and next to granddad senior is nana palmer and next to daddy is uncle jimmy, and next to uncle jimmy is an empty seat.

she hears a small voice behind her say, “mommy isn’t coming.”

she turns around and looks at victoria. there are tear tracks trailing down her cheeks and she’s all snotty. 

“i bet she’d have wanted to come,” tali says. “imas love to see their kids dance.”

“but she can’t,” says victoria, and she’s almost wailing, “because she’s go-o-one!”

“shhhh,” says tali quickly, and hugs victoria before someone comes to find them. “it’s okay, vicky. it’s okay.”

she crouches down in front of victoria. “you know what my daddy said to me when my ima wasn’t there?”

victoria shakes her head miserably.

“he said she was always watching,” she says. “she was always here in my heart.” she pauses. “i think he meant she was across the street with a camera and wearing sunglasses and a big hat. i don’t think your mommy is wearing sunglasses and a big hat, but i think he was right anyway. i think she’s still watching you and she’s still here.” she pokes at victoria’s little pink leotard. “right in your heart. and she’s super duper proud of you! because you’re her little super ballerina. and you’re gonna dance with me on a stage! and i’m gonna hold your hand.”

she takes victoria’s hand decisively.

“feel a little better?” she asks hopefully. victoria gives a small nod.

“good,” tali says. “now come on, vicky. let’s go show everyone the best dancing sisters in the whole entire world.”

and it might be the lights or what her daddy calls her over-active imagination, but when tali’s on stage, she can almost see someone in the seat next to uncle jimmy. and she squeezes victoria’s hand as she helps her turn a pirouette and her whole family might be here after all.


End file.
